Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-06-24

Consumption Cures-Three Card Monte.
How the Counterfeit Money Dodge Is
Worked.
ssThe foundation on which every sharper
works is avarice," said the same fakir
after lighting a fresh cigar, "and he is as
apt to catch the citizen of a big town as
the farmer living by himself. l was at
tachedsto circus for several seasons, and
my statistics proved that the biggest share
OF my money came from townspeople. l
had wheel of fortune, two or three pat
ent medicines, prize drawing, ETC., and
1 have taken more money at once out of a
lawyer or merchant than out of a coun-
tryman. 1t is curious how all sorts of
people will invest their money on wheel
of fortune. There never was one made
which did not give the operator seventy
five per cent. advantage to begin with,
and by trickery this advantage is increased
fifteen OF twenty per cent. Iou mast
know that the operator has things so fixed
that he can stop the wheel at will. In q
town in Rhode Island member of the
common council who was accounted one
the sharpest men in the locality left 5000
with me before he quit my wheel Ii
there is any rafting or dice shaking it is
all fixed, of course. In the prize drawings
you may find gold and silver watches and
sums of money displayed, but these can
not by any possibility be drawn.
81 know several men who have grown
rich and retired from business on the sale
of liver invigorators and consumption
cures. Both remedies are made of the
same materials-to wit, water, whisky,
and one or two extracts. In Dayton, Ohio,
a fakir connected with our show sold 1870
bottles of liver invigorator and 20S bottles
of consumption cure in four hours, and
not over one quarter of the lot was sold to
farmers. When you appeal to a mans
ayarice you hit him hard; when you get
him to thinking his liver is out of order,
OR that he is consumptive, you can take
his last cent. You have seen the glass
bulbs filled with reddish fluid which fakirs
claim to test the blood with? Any one of
average sense must know they are frauds,
but | have seen the best physicians in a
town pay their ten cents with the rest.
About the only thing connected with the
outside of a circus which is not fraud on
the public is the electric battery. That's
all right, and the owner will give you all
your money calls for, and sometimes more.
THREE CARD MONTE.
CHOW take the three-card monte bust
ness or thimble rigging. Those two games
have been worked for the last fifty years
all over the United States, and the public
has been warned against them tens of
thousands of times. They are still the
most profitable games to be worked. Even
old gamblers are enticed to bet. Several
years ago, while I was taking vacation
at health resort in Wisconsin, a couple
of the fraternity called for my assistance
to help work a farmer. The intended
victim was a sharp, keen man, about 30
years old He had been everywhere and
was up on all lodges. He had been tried
with the gold brick and treasure lodges,
but had refused to bite. We held coun-
Gil and decided upon a plan. He had
threeor four fine horses for sale, and the
trio of us drove out to his place to make a
purchase. We were Illinois stock raisers
and horsemen and it was apparent that
he sized us up for sharp fellows. One of
my companions, whom I will call Jim, did
most Of the talking, and he alone desired
to do the buying. Jack and myself sat
down on an old hay rack in the barnyard,
and scarcely noticed the horses as they
were paraded up and down in front of us.
At the proper time Jack took out his cards
and began to show me how it was done.
bet him that could pick out the card,
and we began to talk in loud tones and at
tract attention.
''The farmer finally came over. He knew
all about the game and smiled in pity at
the idea of being caught, but in less than
ten minutes, and that without any urging
from any of us, he had bet and won $40.
That was the entering wedge. He was
OIL tn wiz gao NJ
of so His spirit of avarice was now
thoroughly aroused, and I'm telling you
the solemn truth when I say that he put
up the horses and walked into the house
and brought out a bag containing 5000 in
gold. He sat down with greedy eyes and
pale lips, and won and lost until we had
his last dollar There was no explosion
when he had parted with his last gold
piece. On the contrary, he volunteered
the statement that all had been fair and
above board. An aftesclap always accom-
panies such events, however, and we got
out of the state just as he had secured
warrants for our arrest.
''The safest game worked in the country
to-day is the counterfeit money dodge, and
a goodly number of fakirs are rolling up
fortunes by it. supply myself with
lot of new greefbacks-ones, twos and
fives-and then appear in some small town
as an agent, or detective, or q stranger
seeking recreation. 1t requires only a few
days to size up the people. In every town
of,3, 900 inhabitants there are half dozen
men who are ready to deal in the queer if
it can be done safely. The money I have
with me is, you understand, perfectly
good. When / have selected my man l
exhibit the money as counterfeit. l am
quietly supplying the stuff to few good
fellows at so much on the dollar Before
he buys I give him bill to take to the
post office or bank. It passes without
question and he is elated. 1 am ready to
leave dollar bill with him as a sample,
but if he gives me an order to be filled
two weeks later he must pay me a certain
sum in advance, say $40 on the hundred.
To prove to him that I have his interests
and safety at heart, I produce a paper in
which he makes me his financial agent to
receive and receipt for all moneys. Then
1 give him my note of hand, due some
weeks ahead, for whatever money he pays
me, and he rests assured that the law can
not trouble him. His order is never filled,
of course.
'Suppose he kicks. He has given me
power of attorney. I have not had dol
1e'A VI oio doOCA III lily poSSeSSlOu 1ue
document is an effectual bar to his recoy-
ering or prosecuting. have seen two or
three tests of it, and the fakir came out
with flying colors in each instance. In
ninety-nine casesIout of a hundred, how
ever, the victim loses whatever he has adj
vanced without thought of raising a
row. He has been caught in bad COM
pany. He intended to swindle his neigh
bors. He is amenable to the law. He is
glad enough to let the matter drop and
say no more about it, and the fakir goes
from pasture to pasture and rolls up fat
bank account When you read in some
newspaper of the sharpness and cuteness
of the American people, just remember
what have told you. No people are
swindled oftener, and none hunger so
badly for the fakir and his tricks. New
York Sun Interview.
Besiegins 1. Lunatic-
A crazy man, Ey name Wetterlind, recent